The invention is directed to a frozen confectionery, process for making, and apparatus and mold for manufacturing a frozen confectionery.
Frozen confectionery consumer articles, known as xe2x80x9cimpulse purchasexe2x80x9d are generally awkward to handle and consume once their packaging is opened. The frozen confectioneries generally have either a stick by which they are held with one hand, as in the case of an ice popsicle, or a receptacle which also enables them to be held in one hand, such as, a wafer for ice cream cones. Nevertheless, in all cases it is difficult, for example for a child, to eat the confectionery to the end without the confectionery dripping or breaking into pieces.
Many small articles of frozen confectionery with a stick are produced by molding in molds which are generally made of metal. These molds may consist of one or more parts and, in the latter case, the various parts of the mold must be opened or separated when the confectioneries are demolded.
To produce ice popsicles having one or more convex parts, for example having bulges with a rounded or raised shape and re-entrant parts, it is not possible to use metal molds made of a single piece. The latter have a flared shape with a certain clearance dictated by the necessity for demolding the confectionery, once it is hardened, by an upward vertical movement. Moreover, these molds necessarily lead to the production of a flat upper face imposed by filling the mold with the liquid composition to be frozen. In addition, in order to demold the confectioneries from these molds in one piece, the cavity of the mold must have no re-entrant part or else it will be impossible to demold the confectionery.
According to French Patent No. 2,535,581, the production of confectioneries having a so-called xe2x80x9cundemoldablexe2x80x9d shape has been resolved by means of metal molds consisting of two opposite shaped half-shells which are hinged longitudinally. Since the half-shells are held firmly against each other, they are filled with a composition to be frozen through an upper opening through which a stick is inserted, cooled in a cold air freezing tunnel, warmed, and the half-shells are opened so as to free the molded confectioneries. The half-shells may include an elastic seal along their mutually contacting surface ensuring the leak tight seal of the mold cavity so as to prevent any leakage of the liquid composition during filling and hardening.
Another method, described in French Patent No. 2,502,467, consists of using half-shells with a rounded convex shape in their inner part but without any raised portions on the outside. These half-shells are inserted longitudinally in a master mold while remaining in contact therewith. The master mold containing the half-shell is cooled in a tank of cooling liquid (brine or glycol and water), which represents an advantage compared with cooling in a tunnel but is more costly. The two half-shells, however, have to be extracted vertically from the master mold when confectioneries are demolded and then separated laterally to free the confectionery. The operations involve the use of mechanical extraction and demolding devices which are relatively complex and bulky.
French Patent No. 653,870 discloses an article of frozen confectionery which consists of a frozen block having the shape of a geometric figure. The article is surrounded by a waterproof paper and a rod serving as a handle at one of the ends or several rods serving as handles.
German Patent No. 711,896 discloses a popsicle of standard frustoconical shape comprising a handling member consisting of a cylindrical hollow straw A, located on the axis of revolution of the popsicle and bearing a transverse sliding disc B of low thermal conductivity, the disc serves as support at the base of the popsicle. After formation of the body of the popsicle around the straw and on the disc, the assembly is wrapped with an insulating envelope for delivery and consumption. The straw projects slightly from the end of the popsicle constituting the top of the truncated cone, such that the one can slide the straw through the support disc and popsicle, but not with enough space to hold the popsicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,502 discloses a sweet confectionery lollipop of the hard sugar candy type comprising a member which passes though the lollipop from one end to the other, allowing the lollipop to be held by both ends. In some versions, the handling member consists of a rod curved into a loop on each end of the article fixed in a support member into which it is inserted and the lollipop is formed around the support member.
There remains a need for improvement in the construction and manufacture of these type products and the present invention satisfies this need.
The present invention relates to a method of making a three dimensional frozen confectionery comprising placing a handling member having a central portion and first and second ends between first and second sections of a mold; sealingly engaging the second end of the handling member by closing the first and second mold sections to form a cavity around the central portion of the handling member and to define an opening adjacent the first end of the handling member; directing a first liquid confectionery into the mold cavity through the opening; cooling the mold cavity to a temperature which is sufficiently low to freeze the confectionery; and demolding from the mold a three dimensional frozen confectionery having exposed first and second ends of the handling member.
In this method, the first and second mold sections may be configured with portions that form a chamber which sealingly receives the second end of the handling member and retains the handling member in a center position of the cavity. Also, the cavity can be created by in-line hot blow molding of two thermoplastic sheets which are sealed and which can be detached from each other by peeling. Preferably, the cavity is cooled by placing the mold in a freezing fluid environment, cold air tunnel, or combination thereof after the confectionery is directed therein. Also, the demolding step includes applying heat to the cavity to assist in releasing then confectionery from the first and second mold sections.
This method also includes partially filling the cavity with the first liquid confectionery, cooling the first liquid confectionery to form a first portion of the frozen confectionery, then directing a second liquid confectionery into the cavity and cooling to form a second portion of the frozen confectionery adjacent the first portion. If desired, one or more third liquid confectioneries can be directed into the cavity and then cooled to form additional portions of the frozen confectionery.
This method also includes emptying a portion of the first liquid confectionery from the cavity after partial cooling to form a first layer on the first and second mold sections and then directing a second liquid confectionery into the cavity to form a second layer of the second confectionery adjacent the first layer. If desired, a portion of the second liquid confectionery can be emptied from the cavity after partial cooling to form a second layer on the first layer and then a third liquid confectionery can be directed into the cavity to form a third layer of the third confectionery adjacent the first layer.
The liquid confectionery can contain inclusions including one or more of chocolate, nuts, fruits, a sauce, a syrup or a mixture thereof in an amount sufficient to change the appearance of the confectionery. The frozen confectionery can be coated after demolding, wherein the coating is substantially applied to the frozen confectionery but not the ends of the handling member. When the confectionery comprises ice cream, the coating may be a chocolate applied by rolling or spraying. When the confectionery comprises a water ice or sorbet, the coating may be water applied by spraying to form a protective surface glaze.
The invention also relates to a mold for manufacturing a frozen confectionery about the handling member. The mold comprises first and second mold sections operatively associated for movement between open and closed positions, with the mold sections, when in the closed position, capable of sealingly engaging an end of the handling member, forming a cavity around the central portion of the handling member, and defining an opening adjacent the first end of the handling member, and, when the mold sections are in the open position, the frozen confectionery and handle member may be removed therefrom.
The invention also relates to an apparatus for manufacturing the frozen confectionery, comprising the handling member and mold described above, with means for directing a first liquid confectionery into the mold cavity through the opening; means for cooling the mold cavity to a temperature which is sufficiently low to freeze the confectionery; and means for demolding from the mold a three dimensional frozen confectionery having exposed first and second ends of the handling member.
Preferably, a plurality of molds operatively associated and traveling in time with an endless conveyor chain are used for producing multiple frozen confectioneries. The conveyor chain advantageously cooperates with the mold sections on a forward run to keep the mold sections tightly against each other and sealingly engaged with the second end of the handling member during filling of the cavity with the liquid confectionery and subsequently during hardening of the liquid confectionery, and on a return run of the conveyor chain, to separate the mold sections from each other.
The invention also relates to an edible three dimensional frozen confectionery comprising a three dimensional body made of frozen confectionery and comprising at least one convex surface; and a handling member having a central portion and first and second ends, with the ends extending from the body to form a dual handle for manipulating the frozen confection.